The best indie games of 2020

We closed the year reviewing all those games that, without a big budget behind, managed to break our schemes and sneak into our little hearts.

At this time, the editors of FreeGameTips transform ourselves into a kind of chameleons with legs. Chameleons with one eye on 2021 (and therefore, on the most promising indies that will arrive next year), and the other position on a 2020 of which we are still reviewing all its great moments. After seeing the best role-playing games and RPGs of the year, or the sleepers of 2020, those hits that no one saw coming, it is the turn of the independent video game, which without great artifice or marketing maneuvers is capable of making us laugh and cry like no other. Productions that show that ambition and quality are not marked by numbers. Titles full of personality, ideas. Works capable of breaking all the schemes and turning what we thought we knew about the environment. Then we leave you with what for us are 10 of the best indie games of 2020, a list full of experiences with which to crown your letter to the Three Kings.

Where are they…?

You don’t have to go down to the top of this list to get your hands on your head. We already tell you from the start. Games like Hades are not in it. But before you panic, let’s explain. These articles are little more than a review of the best games of the year in each genre, and having had such a good harvest in 2020, we wanted the same name not to be repeated on several lists to let you know as many titles as possible. Thus, for example, you can find Hades in the list of the best action games, where it rubs shoulders with other names that could also have entered here, such as Huntdown, Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin or Ghostrunner. The same thing happens with hits from this course such as Among Us, Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout, Phasmophobia or Risk of Rain 2, included in the top best multiplayer games of 2020. A case similar to that of Journey to the Savage Planet, present among our favorite adventures of this year, or that of Spelunky 2 and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, which appear in the platform review. So relax, we feel the same devotion as you for Supermassive Games. If you are missing a name, it is probably because it is in one of its sister reports. Take this as a simple mention of 10 more games that have moved and surprised us in the last twelve months.

10. The Pathless

Developer: Giant Squid
Release Date: Nov 12, 2020
Platforms: PC, PS4 and PS5
FreeGameTips Reviews. Score: 7.5

First game on the list and first mention for Annapurna Interactive. The distributor, with a taste as exquisite as it is heterogeneous, will be a recurring presence throughout this top, which we open with the second work of the creators of ABZÛ, that beautiful and contemplative journey to the depths of the ocean. On this occasion, the only 20 people who work at Giant Squid propose us a new journey … but to the end of the world. A trip to a cursed place touched by darkness in which we will have to kill huge creatures with clear reminiscences of Shadow of the Colossus. The game, which lasts around 6 hours, broadly consists of that, going through beautiful settings in search of these “guardians” and fighting a duel with them once we find them. For this mission we will put ourselves in the shoes of a mysterious protagonist who is an expert in the use of the bow and arrows, and who has a faithful eagle for company. But where the title stands out from others is in relation to its movement system. The protagonist moves by sliding at full speed through huge areas of land, and to maintain this speed she must hit the targets that appear with her bow. It is simpler than it seems on this text, being genuine and working perfectly. Agility and dexterity. Distinction. Everything in The Pathless takes place at high speed, with lots of races, puzzles and action sequences that stand out especially for their artistic section, by Matt Nava, the art director of thatgamecompany (Flower, Journey). The landscapes of the world that surrounds us will be purifying as we pass and changing darkness for light through a visual explosion that invites us to revisit and delight. Boss fights, on the other hand, feature a small dose of stealth and a great sense of rhythm. The game becomes more stylish, elegant and beautiful as we progress. Above with the soundtrack by Austin Wintory, which he repeats after ABZÛ’s pranks and has collaborations such as that of the Spanish guitarist Enoc Benítez. Giant Squid thus signs another of those different adventures, an oasis in a triple A desert. To enjoy without great complications and savoring the tremendous visual journey that it entails. Eye drops.

9. Chicken Police: Paint it RED!

Developer: The Wild Gentleman
Release Date: November 5, 2020
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch
FreeGameTips Reviews. Grade: 8

The recipe to overcome a heartbreak. That’s for many of us Chicken Police: Paint it RED !, the only game capable of making us forget the crash of Blacksad: Under the Skin. A visual novel that is set in the 40s, rescues the best of police noir and has all kinds of anthropomorphic animals as its protagonists. The latter are not John Blacksad, Weekly, Smirnov and company, but as if they were. The work of Juan Díaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido also lives in this wonderful point and click in black and white, for which it has surely served as inspiration, and in which we find everything we asked for in its adaptation. Chicken Police is a captivating cinematic experience, in which we will visit around 30 settings (detailed and full of collectibles) playing the role of detective, or what is the same, looking for clues and questioning the more than 25 characters with whom we we will cross. An adventure of around 7 hours in duration that, even being linear, is a gift for the eyes and ears (special mention for that extraordinary dubbing into Spanish, always well accompanied by, as is customary in the genre, a delicious background of jazz). It’s a wild story of love, death, CHICKENS, and redemption. A love letter to movies like The Eternal Sleep, Perdition or Gilda, and to games like Grim Fandango, Snatcher or L.A. I will not go. Sonny Featherland and Marty MacChicken, its protagonists, will remain in our memory, and their interrogation system, with that notebook that evokes Hotel Dusk, makes the title a joy. Hopefully it is the dawn of a new detective saga, in the style of the best Brunetti, Wallander or Antonia Scott.

8. Amnesia Rebirth

Developer: Frictional Games
Release Date: October 20, 2020
Platforms: PC and PS4
FreeGameTips Reviews. Grade: 8

Who is not fed up with the little phrase “It’s the Souls of the games of …”? Well get ready, there is another variant. Within the world of developers, Frictional Games is the From Software of horror games. A company that has completely marked the evolution of the genre with titles such as Penumbra and Amnesia: The Dark Descent, clear references for most of the hits and horror releases of the last decade, see the case of Outlast. This 2020, after having given us the great Soma, Frictional Games has returned to the saga that will bring it world fame. He has done it with Amnesia Rebirth, a new installment that gives fans of the series everything they are looking for, starting with a new game in which you have to run to survive. No action, no fighting and standing up to evil. It’s our turn to flee, hold our breath, and hide behind moldy barrels and sticky tables. But this time we will not pray to God with our faces glued to the dark walls of some century-old castle. At Amnesia Rebirth our sanity will be put to the test in Algeria. It is there where the adventure begins, after a woman has a plane crash over the skies of the country towards the second half of the 30s. The exceptionally written history proposes us to visit with her lonely archaeological sites, abandoned French fortifications before the advance of the desert and caves that devour the light like a black hole. A trip for which again it is essential to play in the dark and with helmets. Throughout it we will solve all kinds of puzzles that rely on our ability to deduce and rely on the physics of objects to be solved. But if Amensia continues to stand out for something, it is for depositing fear in what we do not see, in what we only intuit, using against the player his greatest enemy, his imagination. Frictional Games has presented a work that demonstrates its narrative and playable maturity, being one of the great horror stories of the year, which can only be reproached for being too continuous.

7. Cloudpunk

Developer: ION LANDS
Release Date: April 23, 2020
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch
FreeGameTips Reviews. Grade: 8

It has been years and years of waiting to attend the launch of Cyberpunk 2077, but given what we have seen, there are still one or two more years before many of us set foot in Night City. CD Projekt’s work still needs a lot to polish, especially on consoles, and until it does it seems to have orphaned fans of the Blade Runner setting again. But it only seems that way, because Cloudpunk is a great way to fill the void in your little hearts. A game that proposes us to immerse ourselves in another of those immeasurable megalopolises, the kind that have a skyline of buildings and in which, wherever you look, you always see neon signs or flying cars. The ION LANDS play bets everything on storytelling and tells the story of Rania, an immigrant who takes a job at Cloudpunk, a freight transport service that moves on the edge of the law. As Rania, and over the course of approximately 10 hours, we will have to make multiple orders for the company, always accompanied by Camus, an AI with the appearance of a dog and the most talkative. The commissions will bring before our eyes all the problems and moral debates posed by this type of futuristic society (and so similar to the current one). Xenophobia, social inequality, transphobia, lack of privacy … there are many issues to reflect on and the situations that cause a knot in our stomach. But the great particularity of the title is its aesthetics, which recreates all the streets, squares and spaces of a city with voxels. A look like Minecraft, but with a greater degree of detail that will make fans of pixelart fall in love. In Cloudpunk we will do little more than talk and drive, but those passionate about the subject will not need more. Walking through bright shops, bars, offices and nightclubs, with a depressing atmosphere, sad people and consistent music, leaves a strangely pleasant and calm feeling. Perfect to disconnect and get carried away by melancholy.

6. If Found …

Developer: Dreamfeel
Release Date: May 19, 2020
Platforms: PC, mobile and Nintendo Switch

One of the most experimental games of the year. If Found … is like a half-finished sketch. But half finished erasing, not drawing. Because the Dreamfeel game is a beautiful visual novel in which our job consists of erasing the history of its protagonist, Kasio, a young woman on the edge, overwhelmed by her situation and tired of being haunted by the ghosts of the past. Armed with a rubber band we will have to eliminate all the memories of his life, which includes all the people who went through it and all the discussions and bad moments, but also the good ones, the beautiful ones, the ones that made Kasio’s heart vibrate. His life takes the aspect of a high school notebook and his memories that of drawings and annotations in it. As we turn pages and get to know Kasio more thoroughly, the more we will understand why he wants to break with everything and disappear, and the more difficult it will be to erase certain fragments due to all the implications they have. It is only two or three hours of introspection and emotions that give us a new point of view to debate about home, family and identity. One of those titles to approach knowing as little as possible, and of which, even months after having completed it, keeps you thinking about it.

5. There is no game: Wrong Dimension

Developer: Draw Me A Pixel
Release Date: August 6, 2020
Platforms: PC and mobile

Who does not remember the fight against Psycho Mantis in the first Metal Gear Solid? If the port command had to be changed, if the solution was on the back cover of the game, if Psycho Mantis read our saved games … It was one of the first self-awareness exercises in video games. One of the first times the fourth wall was broken and the person in charge was appealed to. Later came many more, such as the fight with The End in Metal Gear Solid 3, or the case of The Stanley Parable, a virtuoso in the use of metalanguage. However, the mechanics stagnated, it was like “an anecdotal joke” of some games games and it gradually lost its grace, or so we thought. There is no Game: Wrong Dimension shows how wrong we were and how much the formula can continue to give of itself, put this time at the service of a splendid tribute to the history of video games. Loaded with references, it is a game that, as its name suggests, does not want to be played. A graphic adventure, a point and click with an off-screen narrator who constantly breaks the fourth wall and invites us to think “outside the box”. It is time to question the mechanics of other video games, rethink them and put in check the status quo of this industry. Hilarious, with clever and challenging puzzles. A display of imagination and creativity that has not gone unnoticed and is among the six highest rated games of the year on Metacritic, both by the press and the public.

4. Call of the Sea

Developer: Out of the Blue Games
Release Date: December 8, 2020
Platforms: PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X / S
FreeGameTips Reviews. Score: 8.5

Norah Everhart has embarked on an expedition to the confines of the South Pacific in search of her husband, Harry, who a few months ago set out in the same direction believing that there would be the cure for the strange disease that Norah suffers from. Now that Harry has stopped showing signs of life, Nora has decided to follow in his footsteps and has ended up on a mysterious island that no one seems to want to go near. A strange island full of secrets that will soon be discovered as the cradle of a forgotten civilization. That is the starting point for Call of the Sea, the first game from Out of the Blue, a small developer based in Madrid that defines itself as “a company for narrative and puzzle games. We design puzzles. We tell stories. We love video games ”. Although that cover letter makes it clear what you can expect from Call of the Sea, it makes no mention of the beautiful settings in which the adventure takes place, whose color palette and setting invite you to stand still admiring them from time to time. Still waiting for it since it was announced on Xbox Inside last May, the title has seemed to us one of the indie surprises of 2020. An adventure in which to explore every corner and solve ingenious challenges, whose history captures and awakens in us a feeling of suspense and uncertainty that penetrates the bones. It could not be otherwise, having such a strong aroma of Lovecraft and visiting places as dark as the remains of a shipwreck, a camp abandoned on the run, several mysterious ruins … and so on. It is a short, captivating experience and, being available on Xbox Game Pass, essential. It’s exciting to remember, thanks to Call of the Sea, how we felt the first time we read In the Mountains of Madness.

3. Paradise Killer

Developer: Kaizen Game Works
Release Date: September 4, 2020
Platforms: PC and Switch
FreeGameTips Reviews. Score: 8.5

A little while ago we told you about Chicken Police: Paint it RED !, a great detective point and click that, with such a plot, characters, setting and audiovisual style, it is impossible not to enjoy. However, it is still a somewhat linear title, and Paradise Killer is its ideal counterpoint. Another detective game in which the opposite happens. Here we will have great freedom of action and we will not be overprotected in our investigations. It’s over with the story not moving forward until we find a specific object, or seeing the correct deduction in the dialogue system. Paradise Killer lets us investigate in the order we want and to our liking, it makes us responsible for analyzing the information correctly and allows us to make our own hypotheses. The crime of Paradise Island hides a true truth, but how we get there, if we get there, will depend entirely on us. A proposal that could not be more satisfactory and that sets its sights on Danganronpa and above all, the Phoenix Wright saga. On top of this virtue, she is wonderful, it is accompanied by an aesthetic and an atmosphere different from everything you have been able to see. Histrionic and irreverent, the adventure is set on a holiday island that evokes the most idealized beach postcards that come to mind, but an island that is basically a trap to attract humans to offer in sacrifice to the gods of a pantheon of the most bizarre. The rulers of the island have been brutally murdered and only one woman can unravel the truth behind the crime: Lady Love Dies, an intelligent, sensual, brash and confident woman who is called “the investigation geek.” On his side we will have to travel the island overcoming simple puzzles, exploring at will and preparing the trial based on findings, interrogations and, why not, even buying evidence that will move us forward. Always surrounded by a deep and imaginative universe that creates its Its own wonderful lore from nowhere, contains a scathing critique of capitalism, inherits elements of noir and boasts a vaporwave aesthetic that celebrates the beauty and charisma of its characters. Unfortunately, it is not available in Spanish, but it is an adventure that leaves them as excited as the first Ace Attorney did in his day.

2. Spiritfarer

Developer: Thunder Lotus Games
Release Date: Aug 18, 2020
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch
FreeGameTips Reviews. Score: 8.5

There are details that mark a game. Simple actions that define it better than an Reviews of pages and pages. In the case of Spiritfarer, that action is to be able to give hugs to the characters and that they accept them (or not) depending on their mood. There is no better description possible for the emotional work of Thunder Lotus Games, which takes Spirited Away and Hayao Miyazaki’s filmography as a reference and embarks us on an adventure that talks about death, but breathes life. In Spiritfarer we put ourselves in the role of Stella, the new Guide of Souls, the main person responsible for the transition between the world of the living and the afterlife. Stella takes those souls that have just died on her ship and she has to make their arrival in the afterlife as pleasant as possible. A mission that exudes sadness, is accompanied by a luxurious artistic section and wrapped in warm piano chords lost between soft ambient melodies. It is not a challenging game, it does not offer great confrontations with final bosses and it is not set in a three-dimensional world either. And in a sector where violent dynamics and action abound, something like this is appreciated. Something calm, mundane and at the same time transcendental. A game in which to take care of our little boat and its poor guests, to whom we must feed, encourage and give a hand, for example improving the rooms and rooms of the boat. It is a game to relate to a (ephemeral) family on the high seas. And far from falling into monotony, as happens in many games with more “relaxed” and profound premises, Spiritfarer has a surprising variety of proposals that never stops changing and that hooks during the more than thirty hours that it can last. . Straddling an adventure game, a life simulator, a light strategy title, and a side-scrolling platformer, Spiritfarer is more like an unforgettable hug.

1. Kentucky Route Zero

Developer: Cardboard Computer
Release Date: January 28, 2020
Platforms: PC, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch
FreeGameTips Reviews. Note: 9

A cult game. One of the most special trips that a video game has ever proposed to us. That’s what Kentucky Route Zero has become since that first successful kickstarter campaign back in 2011. Cardboard Computer promised to release the title in five chapters and distribute them over two years, but their ambition took its toll on them. it got out of hand. In the end, 9 years have passed since it was announced, 7 since its first episode and 4 since the fourth. But this 2020 has closed the cycle. Kentucky Route Zero has received its latest installment and has reached consoles with a compilation called TV Edition. And the wait has been worth it. As we said in his Reviews, we are facing a child of his time, a product of a time when the independent video game did nothing more than experiment with narrative, as were the cases of Dear Esther, Papers Please or Gone Home. From when everyone tried to give a twist to the way of telling stories. And that is precisely the game, a very simple and straightforward point and click that puts everything at the service of history. Kentucky Route Zero is a dense title, full of dialogue and conversation. No action, no puzzles, no items or inventory. An example of sublimating the art of narrative within the video game using all the tools that such a versatile medium can offer. A coming and going of points of view and narrative methods. It’s possibly the biggest boast in that regard since Undertale. Original as he was alone, it is a surreal journey, a dreamlike road movie that recalls the best of David Lynch, Gabriel García Márquez or Haruki Murakami. I mean, pure magical realism. At times it seems more like a play than a video game, being one of those proposals so peculiar that you either love it or hate it. For this reason, and to avoid disappointment, its creators offer some of the interludes between chapters on their website for free. They are about 8 – 10 hours of pure visual poetry, with a masterful rhythm and a fresh, groundbreaking and risky artistic direction, where the lighting fulfills with note, the use of spectacular cameras and their masterful frames. Its soundtrack is an ode to country, bluegrass, electronics, and ambient music. There is nothing like it. Kentucky Road Zero is one of the pinnacles of video game storytelling.

They have stayed at the gates …

It’s not fair. There are tens, hundreds, thousands! the games that we have had to leave off the list, despite the fact that many of them deserve our attention, applause and affection. To compensate, here is a review of the best indie releases of 2020 month by month, a series of articles that our colleague Israel Mallén has been publishing in recent months, as the calendar pages fell. In them you can find a much larger sample of games and discover new jewels that break all the schemes. If you have missed a name or simply have a monkey with more experiences other than the blockbusters on duty, do not hesitate to dive for them:

January and indies, dreaming of the most promising of the year
7 indie gems to play in February 2020
5 indies essential to play in March 2020
The 8 best indies to play in April 2020
The 7 best indies of May 2020
7 refreshing indies to play in June 2020
The 6 coolest indies to play in July 2020
The 7 best indies of August 2020
The 8 best indies to play in September 2020
The 7 hottest indies to play in November 2020
The 6 best indies of December to say goodbye to 2020